Coating birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) seed with CaCO3 and rock phosphate: early seedling development in controlled environments
1991
Belesky, D.P. | Fedders, J.M. | Wright, R.J.
Birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) can improve the N. status and forage quality of low-input hill-land pastures. However, establishment failures are common and have been attributed to poor seedling vigor. Economic and topographic constraints limit the use of traditional soil amelioration approaches in much of the Appalachian region. Therefore, a controlled environment study was conducted to determine the effect of chemical coatings on early seedling growth and nodulation in birdsfoot trefoil. Seeds of cultivars AU-Dewey and Fergus were scarified, inoculated and coated with CaCO3, rock phosphate, a 1:1 mixture of the CaCO3 and rock phosphate, or soil. Fertilized Berks (Typic Dystrochrept) soil was limed or not limed and represented the main plots of the study. Soil solution Al3+ activity in non-limed soil was 38 micromolar and would be phytotoxic. Each treatment was replicated four times and maintained in a controlled environment. Plants grown on limed soil had 7, 5, and 3 times greater shoot mass, leaf number, and crown zone nodule numbers, respectively, than plants grown on non-limed soil. Chemical seed coatings doubled most parameter responses compared to soil coating when grown in non-limed soil. Coating seed with rock phosphate did not affect nodulation on non-limed soil, whereas nodulation was improved on limed soil. Seed coating had little effect on limed soil suggesting an ameliorative effect of coating on soil acidity in the seedling rhizosphere which would be beneficial when establishing legumes in acidic soil environments.
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